Trimming The Fat

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, we have reached the biggest point of the college football season. It is time to begin what I like to call the “Trimming Of The Fat” stage of the season. The phrase comes from the MTV Challenge: The Gauntlet III, and by one of my favorite contestants, CT. It was a movement that was used to get rid of the weakest links in the competition. I think that phrase and idea can be used here as we get down to it in Week 8 of this college football season.

Last week, we saw a number of things. Lets start in Knoxville, with Alabama and QB Jalen Hurts putting up 49 points on the Vols. Alabama this week gets Trevor Knight and the Texas A&M Aggies, which I will be previewing later on in the post. We also saw a Buckeye comeback in Madison, as Urban Meyer coached the Buckeyes back to defeat the Badger in heroic fashion. And FINALLY my lock of the week won, as Clemson got some help from a boneheaded kicker. The Tigers got the 24-17 victory in overtime, as NC State had a suspect play call in the overtime period.

My overall pick record last week was 5-1. Yes, you are reading that right, I had one lone defeat. Not a bad week for your pal. This week I look for the same luck, and maybe I go with an upset or two of some of the big teams.

Let’s start off in Tuscaloosa, as “The number one team in all of the land”, the Alabama Crimson Tide, take on the Sixth ranked Aggies of Texas A&M. I LOVE this game. I truly think if anyone is to beat the Tide, it will be A&M. My reasoning is this: the last time a stud QB went into Alabama and won, they had a superstar QB. That man was named Johnny Manziel and he played for Texas A&M. Well would you look at that, A&M and a stud QB, but this time around it’s Trevor Knight. A&M must beat that Bama defense, and they must limit Jalen Hurts to something in the 200 total yardage game. If they can do that, I think the Aggies can win this game.

Now we head to Iowa City in a make or break match-up in the Big 10 West, between Iowa and number 10 Wisconsin. The Badgers have dropped back to back contests with Ohio State and Michigan, while the Hawkeyes are coming off a big win over Purdue. I think this game comes down to CJ Beathard against that Wisconsin defense. I think if Beathard can be successful, then the Hawkeyes will be the victors. Now on the other-side of the ball, this is a must win for the Badgers, especially with number 8 Nebraska on the docket next week. This could be the third loss out of 4 in four weeks for Wisconsin. This could be a major downfall for the Badgers.

My LOCK of the week last week played NC State, and my LOCK of the week this time around will play NC State. This week, I love number 7 Louisville at home against the Wolfpack. I heard on last weeks broadcast, that NC State’s coaching staff believes they’re still one year away from being where they want to be. I totally agree with that, and that is why Louisville might put up about 700 points in this game.

So without further adieu, here are my picks for this week:

#6 (6-0) Texas A&M 37-# 1(7-0) Alabama 35

(5-2) Iowa 24-#10 (4-2) Wisconsin 14

#7 (5-1) Louisville 45- NC State 10

#14 (6-0) Boise State 38- (4-3) BYU 21

#2 (6-0) Ohio State 31-(4-2) Penn State 17

Need the Aggie win, just so we see analysts heads explode. If Bama is to win this game, let me tell you then, they will not lose another game this season. This is the game the empire falls.

Heisman is in the grasps of Lamar Jackson still. But I think Baker Mayfield and Deshaun Watson are totally in the mix. Do not, I repeat, do not count out JT Barrett. I am also on the Jabrill Peppers train, I think he could throw a wrench in the mix. But right now, it’s Jackson Time.

So until next week and until Saturday (they are for the boy don’t you forget that), I am Jack “Emperor Of Handsome” Corsi (@jcorsi11).